Wishes
Post your wishes about Graphisoft products: Archicad, BIMx, BIMcloud, and DDScad.

Add ability to create true reflected ceiling plans

Professor Pickle
Advocate
We have a 3D model. We cut it in plan and look down on it to get the floor plan. I should be able to just look up from the cutting plane to get a true RCP. It's the same thing! Just let us look up. Please.
Pushing the boundaries of local time/space continuum since 1972.
Archicad 26 | iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017) | 4.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 | 24 GB | Radeon Pro 580 8 GB | macOS 12.6


23 REPLIES 23
No, it’s not the same thing. They call it a reflected ceiling plan because it’s what you would see if you were looking down into a mirror on the floor. If you were lying on your back on the floor looking up, it would be “mirror reversed” from an RCP, and would be very confusing to any one trying to understand it.
Richard
--------------------------
Richard Morrison, Architect-Interior Designer
AC26 (since AC6.0), Win10
Professor Pickle
Advocate
Ah yes. You’re absolutely right.

What I meant is that if we can already cut and project a regular floor plan it’s really the “same”, as in what the underlying graphics engine is capable of, to generate an RCP. This would save a lot of work setting up model and graphic overrides, which would still remain as an option. I’m advocating for a more automated approach.
Pushing the boundaries of local time/space continuum since 1972.
Archicad 26 | iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017) | 4.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 | 24 GB | Radeon Pro 580 8 GB | macOS 12.6


Anonymous
Not applicable
Hi Tomek,

I completely agree. The option (highlighted below) should be available in the floor plan cut plane settings for 2D documents. This would allow lighting and ceiling fixtures to be linked to the 3D model while simultaneously having the ability to display a 2D symbol of the light or fixture. I understand that this might be difficult for developers at Graphisoft to add this feature, given the confusing nature of reflected ceiling plans as mentioned by @Richard Morrison.


Reflected ceiling plans in their current state is creating an additional workload given that any 2D symbols placed on the drawing will not be linked to the model (which defeats the purpose of BIM). This needs to be resolved ASAP.

Jarrod.
Anonymous
Not applicable
Very unfortunate that ArchiCAD cannot do RCPs. RCPs are extremely important for our office. Crazy that ArchiCAD does not even know what an RCP is. They are basically plans but look up… nothing more or less. Or to put it another way... they are REFLECTED CEILING PLANS. Pretty simple concept. You should see the roof lines, soffits, etc. Archicad you get everything showing up as dotted and you see stuff you should not see. Like roof ridge and valley lines. What am I supposed to tell the contractor... oh that is a BIM issue. This has rendered ArchiCAD useless in production drawings. Only useful for Schematic Design.
It's a shame that you haven't taken the time to learn how to do RCPs in ArchiCAD. Here is a video:

Of course, you can adjust the display with MVOs and GOs to get exactly what you need in production drawings. It must be amazing to you that firms still seem able to create production documents for millions of square feet/meters of buildings with such "useless" software.
Richard
--------------------------
Richard Morrison, Architect-Interior Designer
AC26 (since AC6.0), Win10
Barry Kelly
Moderator
holmarch wrote:
Crazy that ArchiCAD does not even know what an RCP is. They are basically plans but look up… nothing more or less. Or to put it another way... they are REFLECTED CEILING PLANS.

No they aren't.
That would be a mirror copy of what you want.
They are just a standard plan showing what is at ceiling level - just as you would another floor level.
You said it yourself, it is the view of the ceiling reflected on the plan - i.e. you are viewing from above the ceiling, which is why I said it is just like another plan view.

Obviously you need to adjust how elements appear in this view.
You can adjust the Floor Plan Cutting Plane which can affect elements showing as dashed or solid, and if objects are scripted properly, they can respond to the 'Reflected Ceiling' option in the Model View Option settings.

The 3D Document option with Reflected Ceiling Plan option is an easy way of reversing the effect of the FPCP and limiting its overall height.


Barry.
One of the forum moderators.
Versions 6.5 to 27
Dell XPS- i7-6700 @ 3.4Ghz, 16GB ram, GeForce GTX 960 (2GB), Windows 10
Lenovo Thinkpad - i7-1270P 2.20 GHz, 32GB RAM, Nvidia T550, Windows 11
Anonymous
Not applicable
I wanted help… not insults or be shamed! I was hoping for some constructive dialog as I just want to learn how to do RCPs in ArchiCAD to match the successful way we and other architects have been doing them for years. While I respect your opinion that an RCP is a plan cut above the ceiling looking down… I have never heard that definition. In our office (for the past 50 years), we follow the definition that an RCP is what you would see if you cut the room horizontally and had the ceiling reflected on the floor plan, like it was a giant mirror. You are going to see the soffits, roofs, beams, lights, etc. Handrails, cabinets and other items related to the floor would not show. If you use the 3d cutaway tool and cut from the bottom and look up, that is what you would see. See the attached that I generated this way. Of course, it needs to be flipped/mirrored, so it is the same orientation of the plan. But you get the idea. Archicad should be able to do this.

The video link provided does not show an RCP since they turn off the balcony. You need to see the balconies, soffits, roof line, etc. so you can detail, place finishes, lights etc. You should not see beams as dotted lines and you should not see the valleys and ridges on the roof. I have played around with the graphic overrides, but they are still not accurate. Also, a simple 2x2 or 2x4 gird is very restrictive, I see no mention of how to place, fire protection, systems, HVAC, etc. and a complex profile of a beam does not show the detail, just the outline.

Again, if someone can point me in the direction of how to do RCPs in ArchiCAD, I would be very grateful. At this point, it appears ArchiCAD is not able to generate a RCP without a ton of 2d work, which would be much faster in CAD. PROVE ME WRONG. PLEASE! YES… it is amazing that firms can produce accurate RCPs for millions of SF of buildings with ArchiCAD... what is the secret. I am ready to be SCHOOLED.
DGSketcher
Legend
None of the many helpful members of this forum, particularly Barry, set out with conflict in mind. Unfortunately your description of what you are doing is flawed and this may be the source of the problem.
holmarch wrote:
While I respect your opinion that an RCP is a plan cut above the ceiling looking down… I have never heard that definition. In our office (for the past 50 years), we follow the definition that an RCP is what you would see if you cut the room horizontally and had the ceiling reflected on the floor plan, like it was a giant mirror. You are going to see the soffits, roofs, beams, lights, etc. Handrails, cabinets and other items related to the floor would not show.
All you have said above is correct. The RCP plan layout stays the same e.g. you can overlay it on the floor plan and the drawing contains whatever you choose to display projected down from the ceiling level and above.
holmarch wrote:
If you use the 3d cutaway tool and cut from the bottom and look up, that is what you would see. See the attached that I generated this way. Of course, it needs to be flipped/mirrored, so it is the same orientation of the plan.
This is something different & a more complicated method. If you are looking directly at the ceiling image it isn't a reflection, hence the need for you to flip & mirror to get what you want.

You have been offered good advice by two of the top contributors to this forum. Take some time to understand how the software works, avoid sweeping statements on functionality based on limited use and you may find the assistance you need is a bit more forthcoming.
Apple iMac Intel i9 / macOS Sonoma / AC27UKI (most recent builds.. if they work)
Jeff Galbraith
Advocate
Our firm adopted Archicad last year and Reflected Ceiling plans have been one of, if not the most frustrating things about the software. Archicad's approach to RCP's seems stuck in the old 2D way of accomplishing them by simply turning on and off layers...not truly 3D BIM. We have been able to overcome most of the issues using a complex set of layer combinations, Graphic Overrides and individual element settings with a little 2D drafting over the top.

Some element types have the display option to have multiple view settings conducive to RCP's called 'Projected with Overhead'. This option modifies the objects appearance by allows things like beams to be have one line type it's located below the cut line, and another livetype if it's above the cut plane. SO, if the overhead livetype for a beam is set to dashed so it shows up that way in a plan view, you can then use a graphic override in your RCP's to change that linetype to a solid line.

Not all elements however have the 'Projected with Overhead' option, so you have to apply more graphic overrides...

It's cumbersome and imperfect, but you can get most of what you want if you're willing to dig deep into understanding the options in the software...
Jeff G

Archicad 27 USA (full), Macbook Pro (16-inch 2023, M3 MAX, 128 GB RAM)